Day 25: Punchbowl Cove to Walker Cove

I have been dreading writing this post because the scenery and the weather today have been so stunning that I don’t know where to begin. This morning started with blue skies and full sun shining through the cuddy cabin hatch. (Sunrise is 4 AM, so the day is well underway by the time we get up.) We decided to start off by exploring the rest of Rudyerd Bay, which was an excellent decision - the scenery just got better and better the further we went in.

The top of the bay has a really tight entrance (above). The charts show it shoals to about 12 feet at the entrance, but we never saw less than 60 or 70 feet. Also, the shoreline was in the wrong place on the chart. A lesson to do regular reality checks while using your GPS! Actually, the charts throughout this part of Alaska have frequently been way off. The plotter says today’s anchorage is in 0-1 foot of water, while our eyes and the depth sounder tell us we’re anchored in 70 feet. One gets used to accurate charts, so this shocked us at first. Now we just put on our intrepid explorer hats and proceed with caution.

The top of Rudyerd Bay is both quiet and spectacular, two of our favorite qualities.

Look how calm that water is!

Peak pollen season here. It's all over everything and accumulates in trails across the water.

Another part of Rudyerd Bay with a bowl-like granite ridge

On the way up Walker Bay, we saw this cool waterfall (left and below)

The blue skies, dark gray rock, white snow, and green trees combine so beautifully

We passed by the recommended anchorage in Walker Bay, since there were already two 60-foot yachts tied to the forest service mooring buoy (which is way overloaded, in my opinion) along with a mini cruise ship anchored nearby. At the head of the bay, there was another mini cruise ship anchored, but it left about an hour after we arrived. Anchoring was challenging here because the charts were again meaningless and the sea floor deep and steep. We spent half an hour trying to find some ground that wasn’t too steep; in the end, we anchored in a spot described in the guidebooks, but it’s still pretty steep and we’re not sure what the bottom’s like. Hopefully, the guides didn’t lead us astray!

This is what I saw when I came out the door after we anchored!

I think Walker Cove is the most beautiful anchorage yet. I know, I keep saying that. But look at these pictures and tell me it gets any better than this! I took pictures of the boat from four different vantage points and every one is spectacular.

We feel so lucky to be here, to enjoy such fine weather, and to have it all to ourselves.

Today's route (43 miles)